


temporary fix

by Carcharias



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 06:42:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12030330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carcharias/pseuds/Carcharias
Summary: Jongdae and Chanyeol play a road trip game across the USA.





	temporary fix

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to naega-star as always for looking over this for me, and an especially large thank you to Team Funky for dealing with my scheduling issues and being unfailingly generous. Enjoy the trip!

Jongdae shoves his duffel into the trunk of the sedan and swings into the passenger seat feet first. He takes out his phone and starts idly flipping through the checklist on it.

“Seventeen minutes.” Chanyeol’s slouched in the driver’s seat, fingers drumming on the wheel, leg jittering.

“What?” Jongdae yawns.

“Seventeen minutes,” Chanyeol repeats, “it took you seventeen minutes to get down here, we were supposed to leave at eight thirty.” He shoots an unimpressed look at Jongdae, who shrugs apologetically.

“Sorry man, not my fault I got to sleep late.”

“That...is absolutely your fault, you were watching porn with Baekhyun—”

“I was not,” Jongdae protests, “I was watching dumb prank videos, alone.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

After another five minutes pass in silence, Chanyeol gives an annoyed grunt. “Hold on, I got this,” Jongdae says, and shoves his head out the window. “Yo, Baekhyun! Get your slow ass down here!”

There’s a dull thump and then Baekhyun’s wild bedhead pokes out of the window to Jongdae’s room. “It is a fine fucking ass, and you know it!” He pauses. “Hey, what the fuck, I called shotgun last night, you asshole!” Jongdae just flips him off, and Baekhyun disappears with a frustrated yell, reappearing a moment or two later at the door, dragging his giant suitcase clumsily behind, several things balanced in his arms as he locks up. Chanyeol jumps out of the car with an exasperated “finally,” and helps him load the trunk.

“Oh shit,” Jongdae says when they get in the car. “I forgot my coff—” Baekhyun shoves a travel mug at his head before he finishes. “Got your fucking coffee, traitor.” Jongdae takes it gleefully and practically inhales the first scalding gulp.

“Next time don’t suggest we stay up until three am watching weird porn, idiot.” Jongdae chokes and whines loudly, reaching back to try and punch Baekhyun’s big mouth. Chanyeol cackles loudly as he pulls away from the curb, and they’re off.

 

The plan, hammered out over the final weeks of the semester between frantic study sessions, is for a road trip across the country, starting when Chanyeol drives down from Nowheresville, Massachusetts in his beloved old sedan to pick up Jongdae and Baekhyun from their neighborhood in Philly. They’ll drop Baekhyun off at his shitty prestigious internship in D.C., and from there, Chanyeol and Jongdae will maneuver their way back to LA, taking their time to enjoy the sights and their internship-free summer. They’d had the trip roughly planned since their first year, when they’d gotten high and concocted the “Ultimate Bro’d Trip” (name not endorsed by Chanyeol) meant for all four of them to go, but Baekhyun had had this internship practically dropped on his lap and he’s not a (total) idiot. Kyungsoo was asked by his adviser to help conduct summer research on campus and he’s even less of an idiot.

At least the three of them get a chance to get wasted together for a night before parting ways. Chanyeol and Jongdae check in to their AirBnB and then help drop Baekhyun’s stuff off at the crappy apartment he’s been put in for the summer, and then they go out to take bad selfies for Instagram and then track down a nightclub.

A few hours, several drinks and some truly horrific dancing later, not to mention the required amount of questionable drunken snapchats, the three of them stumble out of the club for the night. Jongdae was supposed to be watching his alcohol intake since he’s driving tomorrow, but he lost count after the second tequila shot.

“Be good to him,” Baekhyun slurs, hanging off of Chanyeol’s slightly less wobbly frame as they walk him to his student housing. They tip dangerously and Jongdae reaches out to brace them back upright. “Jongdae, I mean it, he’s…” he pauses to consider Chanyeol’s face. “...delicate.” 

“I’m not delicate!” Chanyeol squawks, trying to dislodge Baekhyun from his arm, but drunk Baekhyun cannot be dislodged by beast or man.

Jongdae is, frankly, offended. “What do you think I’m going to do?” he whines, clinging to Chanyeol’s other side. Unlike Baekhyun, Chanyeol wraps his arm around his neck, probably to try and hold him up. “I loooove Chanyeol he’s my best bro, much better best bro than you.” Baekhyun pretends to faint in shock, sending them all into fits of laughter when he actually slips and stumbles into a bush. Jongdae is laughing so hard he also stumbles into a bush, and Chanyeol has to help him out since Baekhyun has been rendered useless.

“Man, you’re gonna regret this in the morning,” Chanyeol says after they’ve safely returned Baekhyun to his apartment. “You’re driving first shift.”

“Psssht, no I won’t,” Jongdae says with all the confidence of a drunk college student hanging off his friend. 

When they get back there’s a drunken text on his phone from Baekhyun.

 _i meadn snit!!! delact!!_ followed by a string of nonsensical emojis. Jongdae’ll figure that out later.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

Jongdae always regrets it the next morning. He drags himself to the car, trying to chase the taste of stale alcohol out of his mouth with crappy coffee from the Keurig so generously provided by their host.

He passes out not long after they leave D.C., lulled to sleep by a podcast and blinks awake a couple hours later, seatbelt digging into his face.

He groans, stretching like a cat until his spine pops a little. Chanyeol looks over at the noise. “Good morning, sunshine.”

Jongdae flips him off. “How much longer until Asheville?” he asks, yawning a little and trying to rub the seatbelt line out of his cheek.

Chanyeol laughs slightly delayed, eyes quickly flicking up and back on the road. “Like. Six hours. We’re a couple hours outside of D.C.—ran into some traffic while you were asleep.”

“Jeeesus christ.” Jongdae whines, thunking his head on the window. “I’m already tired of driving.”

“You’re not even driving,” Chanyeol says, “because someone got a little too trashed last night and had to beg me to take his turn this morning.” Jongdae whines louder and smacks him until Chanyeol’s yelling about not distracting the driver, it’s a hazard!

The chat with Chanyeol has woken Jongdae up, but not even twenty minutes later and he’s bored. The low murmur of the podcast isn’t lulling him to sleep anymore, turned off in favor of the local radio and the road stretches out in front of them for what seems like forever, knowing that they’re basically stuck in this state for the rest of the day. The AC is blasting but it’s still uncomfortably warm in the car, no escape from the blazing sun; the enticing shade of the mountains still far on the horizon. He’s itchy, in a restless way, the novelty of the first part of the road trip worn off, hangover vaguely lingering, and when Jongdae gets itchy he makes questionable decisions.

Jongdae looks over at Chanyeol, who is humming quietly to himself along to some generic country song. He reaches for his energy drink and Jongdae watches the way his lips curl around the lip of the can.

“Wanna make out?”

A few tense moments later after Chanyeol’s surprised flailing and choking nearly sends them into the ditch on the side of the road, Jongdae has to scramble through the glove compartment for tissues to mop up the energy drink now splattered all over the steering wheel and Chanyeol’s front.

“Fuck, Jongdae, don’t do that!” Chanyeol whines while Jongdae helps clean him up, cackling. “We almost died, you complete asshole!”

“Do you want to, though?” Jongdae looks up from where he’s dabbing at Chanyeol’s shorts. He’s not laughing anymore but keeps the grin on his face, suddenly a little nervous at the way Chanyeol’s gaping, eyes wide. He considers the angle and position he’s in and bats his eyes a little, playfully.

After a couple seconds that feel a lot longer, Chanyeol remembers to drag his eyes back to the road. “Can’t make out while I’m driving,” he says, swallowing. Wow, his neck is long. “Also, what the fuck, Jongdae.”

“I don’t know, I’m bored, thought it might be fun,” Jongdae says, “It’s no big deal.” Chanyeol twitches when Jongdae moves his hand just a little further in, fingers pressing firmly at the inseam along Chanyeol’s skinny chicken thighs. “And you could always pull over.” He licks his lips.

Chanyeol swears under his breath, and turns on his blinker. Jongdae grins and settles back in his seat, buzzing, hand still resting lightly on Chanyeol’s thigh. A few minutes later Chanyeol pulls off the interstate onto an empty state highway and into the back of the parking lot of what appears to be an abandoned restaurant. He turns off the car and the sudden lack of noise is jarring.

They unbuckle and sit there for a long moment, silence stretching. The taptaptap of Jongdae's leg jiggling against the door is the only sound and he abruptly stops it, swallowing nervously. Chanyeol looks over at him, blankly.

“Okay now what.”

Jongdae laughs, a single barking laugh and the weird atmosphere is broken. He clambers over the middle console to settle in Chanyeol’s lap—it’s not the most comfortable position, Chanyeol’s thighs too bony and Jongdae’s knees digging into the seat on either side, but he’s worked with worse. “Well,” he says, grinning wider at Chanyeol when he feels large hands wind automatically around his waist, “kissing is a good place to start.”

To Chanyeol’s credit, he kisses Jongdae first.

Chanyeol's lips are a little chapped from biting them all the time but they're also soft and pink and exactly how Jongdae imagined on his, which is to say, delightful and a little sticky with processed sugar. Not to say he’s imagined kissing Chanyeol a lot, but Jongdae always imagines kissing attractive people when he’s intoxicated, and Chanyeol’s been his attractive best bro for three years now. (Baekhyun too, but Jongdae’s been there, done that, bought the t-shirt).

Jongdae grins into the kiss and leans in, hands running up to Chanyeol's neck to stroke lightly at his jaw with his thumbs. Chanyeol's hands are heavy and warm on Jongdae's back, almost too warm with the light of the midmorning sun beating down through the windows; they’re so huge, which Jongdae decides he kind of loves, but also he can feel gross sweat building on his lower back. Jongdae’s knee might be going numb, and he starts to pull away, rethinking this whole idea, when Chanyeol has the audacity to suck at Jongdae's lip, making him yelp in surprise. Jongdae retaliates with a bite to Chanyeol's own, grinning, but doesn't expect the shuddering gasp under his lips.

Jongdae pulls back, and considers. "Oh." Chanyeol stares back at him, eyes wide and dark and lips red. He blinks owlishly, face unreadable, and when licks his lips Jongdae feels the heat on his back curl into his gut.

This time Jongdae kisses first, openmouthed and eager, teeth pulling at Chanyeol’s lips to try and get more of those breathy noises. Chanyeol pulls him closer on his lap and runs his hands down to cup Jongdae's ass through his shorts. They almost completely cover his cheeks and when Chanyeol squeezes a little, Jongdae squirms in delight.

After a few minutes Chanyeol pulls back to breathe and Jongdae takes his chance, dives in and latches on to that long giraffe neck. The sudden hand in his hair feels amazing, almost as good as it felt on his ass, and he hums against skin that smells a little like flowers. He wants to taste, so he does, licking a short stripe up and then, remembering Chanyeol's reactions to teeth, bites down.

"Fuck, Jongdae," Chanyeol groans and pulls him even closer and Jongdae goes happily, nibbling upward until Chanyeol can slot their mouths together again, messy and a little desperate. Chanyeol’s so eager, Jongdae can’t believe it. This was a fantastic idea, why the hell hasn’t he tried this before? Jongdae’s made out with most of his friends but never Chanyeol and he’s becoming well aware of what he’s been missing.

Jongdae slides his hands down and under Chanyeol's shirt, fingers gliding slowly upwards. He scooches forward just that little bit more, settling flush to Chanyeol's hips and oh, that's nice. He rolls his hips forward slightly and moans at the pressure, slight and promising.

"Do you," Jongdae pants, "do you want to..." Chanyeol jerks back, eyes glassy and lips swollen pink. Jongdae can’t decide where to look, brain fried by the heat in his groin and how sloppy Chanyeol already looks after fifteen minutes of making out, ends up focused on a bead of sweat running into his eyebrow.

Chanyeol's eyes go wide. "Yeah," he blurts out, "yes yeah uh, what should I—" He's stammering and Jongdae can see him starting to do his usual overthink and panic routine.

"Touch me," Jongdae interrupts and Chanyeol starts to move his hands forward but Jongdae stops him with a hand on his wrist. "Actually, no, keep your hands there." He leans forward and smiles against Chanyeol's ear. "I like it."

"Yeah?" Chanyeol looks starstruck, like he's never had someone offer him a handjob before, which is ridiculous because Jongdae knows he's hooked up with people before, but whatever. Jongdae knows he's good.

"Yeah." Chanyeol squeezes, hard, and suddenly Jongdae needs to get his hands down Chanyeol's pants _right fucking now._

He scrambles for Chanyeol's fly and his own, nearly coming then and there when he lines them up, licks at his palm, and takes them both in hand. It's not the easiest thing, Jongdae's hands are a little small to hold both of them together and it’s a little too dry but then one of Chanyeol's hands comes around and takes over, wrapping around them both easily.

They come like that, hands wrapped around each other wrapped around their dicks and gasping into each other's necks. Jongdae comes like he normally does, with a choked-off whine and groan, but Chanyeol merely shudders and presses his lips to Jongdae's skin, mostly silent.

It's hot and sticky and they're low on tissues for cleanup, but Jongdae feels great. He shuffles backwards as he tucks himself back into his shorts. Chanyeol does the same.

"Ugh, I feel so much better," he says and leans forward to give Chanyeol a short kiss. He seems surprised. "You good?" Chanyeol nods absently, then seems to get himself together and smiles greasily. “Was that good for you?” He waggles his eyebrows and Jongdae shoves his face into the headrest.

"Why haven't we done that before?" Jongdae asks, maneuvering back into his own seat. Chanyeol shrugs. “Dunno,” he says, and pulls the car out onto the highway.

 

Lunch isn’t awkward at all, to Jongdae’s surprise. The drive down Virginia is just as normal as it was before, but more relaxed, Jongdae no longer bored and itchy but buzzing and sated instead. Chanyeol hums along to the radio a bit louder, and Jongdae joins in a few times before they finally stop for lunch, stomachs rumbling. They eat and chat like nothing happened, Jongdae stealing Chanyeol’s fries and Chanyeol putting him in a headlock in the sticky fiberglass of the McDonald’s booth. Then they’re back on the road, Jongdae driving this time.

A few hours later they stop for gas and to replenish their already depleted snack supply. "We need drinks, too," Chanyeol says. "Do you need to pee?"

"I don't fuck with gas station bathrooms," Jongdae says, moving the car to a parking space. "If the plague doesn't get you, the serial killers will." He pauses. "Or worse, the serial killer plague infested roaches." He gags, and pulls the car into park.

"Suit yourself, weirdo," Chanyeol scoffs and gets out of the car.

"You're gonna die!" Jongdae yells after him. Chanyeol flips him off through the glass and Jongdae throws up his hands.

He wanders the aisles while Chanyeol braves the bathroom. He grabs several bags of chips, a few sodas and somehow ends up in the amenities. He grabs more tissues, and after a moment’s deliberation sneaks a bottle of lube, a pack of condoms, and some wet wipes in with the snacks. Jongdae’s not…expecting anything, he’s just...getting prepared. Being a good boy scout. Yeah. At the checkout Chanyeol doesn’t even say anything, just adds a couple six packs of beer and a candy bar to the total.

 

They finally arrive in Asheville just before dinnertime and after getting lost for about ten minutes finally find the small hotel they’d booked. They stumble out of the car, limbs stiff and aching and Jongdae checks in while Chanyeol grabs both duffel bags and takes the key for the room. When Jongdae finally makes it up to the room, carefully navigating the ancient staircase, he finds Chanyeol facedown on one of the beds, spreadeagle.

Jongdae drops the keys on a table and with a shrill war cry, takes a running leap.

"Jesus fucking christ, Jongdae," Chanyeol groans in pain, drowned out by the complaining of the bedsprings.

"Ssh, don’t move, I’m trying to get comfortable.”

“Your knee is in my ass, get off.”

“Nah.”

Jongdae wriggles around a bit until he’s comfortable, head tucked into Chanyeol’s shoulders and legs wrapped on either side. “This is nice,” he sighs. “You’re big so you make a nice mattress.”

“Thanks,” Chanyeol mutters defeatedly into the duvet.

“Your ass is kinda bony though,” Jongdae says. “How did someone so huge get stuck with such a tiny ass?”

“You wanna talk about tiny asses?” Chanyeol twists his head, no longer muffled by the bed. “Yours is miniscule, tiny man. My entire hand fits over it.” He gropes around for a handful of Jongdae’s cheek, proving his point. 

“Yeah but my ass has definition, everyone loves my ass.” Jongdae wiggles a bit, and decides to go for it. Who is he kidding, he wants a repeat of lunchtime, _bad_. “And I like that it fits in your hands.”

Chanyeol stills under him, hand going slack. For a moment Jongdae wonders if he’s crossed some line; he’d been fuckbuddies with Baekhyun before Baekhyun went and got himself a boyfriend, and the girl who took his virginity was an old friend before she moved. Sex and best friends has been kind of a given with Jongdae, he even hooked up with Kyungsoo once but until now never with Chanyeol and maybe...maybe there was a reason for that. Jongdae never asked.

“Do...you want to?” Chanyeol says finally and squeezes a little, sending a jolt of arousal straight to Jongdae’s gut. _Fuck_ yes.

“Yes, yes, absolutely yes.”

Chanyeol flips them over with surprising speed, crawling over Jongdae and sealing their mouths together. Jongdae quickly decides that he likes kissing Chanyeol a lot, and would like to continue to do so as much as possible. Their shirts come off fairly quickly and Jongdae practically purrs at the feel of Chanyeol’s long bare torso pressed to his. 

“Come on, get my pants off,” Jongdae says, suddenly impatient. He pushes at Chanyeol’s fly. “Yours too.”

Chanyeol laughs at him but his hand is trembling a bit too when he finally gets it around Jongdae’s cock. 

“What do you want?” he asks after a few tentative strokes, question murmured into Jongdae’s cheek.

Jongdae considers for a moment. He eyes where Chanyeol’s hands are stroking gently at both his cock and his hip and decides.

“Fingers,” he says, “I want you to finger me open, try and make me come like that.” He pulls Chanyeol’s face up. “Think you can handle that?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Chanyeol says and grabs for the lube.

A few minutes later and Jongdae has discovered something with Chanyeol he maybe likes even better than kissing. Chanyeol’s fingers are large and long and _ridiculously_ talented. He stretches Jongdae around two and it already almost feels like too much, his fingers thick and wonderful. He thrusts in farther, presses forward a little and Jongdae writhes. He’s hard as a rock and leaking against his stomach, and Chanyeol adds another finger. 

Jongdae groans low, working himself down in small thrusts. Chanyeol has stopped moving, watching rapt where his fingers disappear into Jongdae’s body. 

“Chanyeol,” Jongdae pants, “help me out here.” Jongdae only meant for him to keep thrusting but Chanyeol swoops forward and takes Jongdae into his mouth, sucking him down as he thrusts his fingers in. Jongdae practically wails, and comes almost an embarrassingly short amount of time later, body pulled tight and arching off the bed.

Chanyeol jerks himself off quickly, desperate, and comes with a gasp all over Jongdae’s stomach. It’s extremely hot, if a little sticky, and Jongdae says so when Chanyeol flops next to him on the bed. 

“Alright alright, I got the hint,” Chanyeol says and after a minute heaves himself up to get a wet towel from the bathroom.

“Thank you,” Jongdae sings after him, and blows him a kiss. Chanyeol swats at it.

 

After cleaning up and getting dressed, Jongdae lounges back on the bed, sipping at one of the beers from the car. He studies the stock picture on the opposite wall of a truck on a highway, and is struck with sudden inspiration. “Hey, Yeol. Let’s play a road trip game.”

Chanyeol flops down in the desk chair and pulls out his phone, tapping absently. Probably looking up places to eat. “What kind of game? Like, counting state license plates?”

“Sorta. It’s called ‘Let’s See How Many Cities We Can Fuck In.’” Chanyeol looks up sharply from his phone.

“Sorry, what?”

“I thought the title was pretty self-explanatory,” Jongdae says.

“Yeah I just…” Chanyeol blinks. “You want to have sex, with me, in every city we stop at?”

Jongdae sits up. He’d thought Chanyeol would be more on board with the idea. “Uh, duh? Was that last orgasm not obvious? Your fingers are fucking awesome, man.” Chanyeol blushes; Jongdae briefly thinks it’s fucking adorable. “Plus, road trip games are classic!”

“They are important,” Chanyeol mutters to himself. He doesn’t say anything else though, and Jongdae suddenly wonders if he’s overstepped, and swiftly backtracks.

“It’s ok man, it’s a just a joke, we don’t have t—” but Chanyeol cuts him off.

“No! No it’s fine,” he says quickly. “I just wasn’t sure you’d be able to handle that much of me.” He smirks greasily and waggles his eyebrows in a way that Jongdae is sure is a direct copy of his own patented eyebrow waggle, but vastly inferior, of course. “I’m down if you are.”

“Yess!” Jongdae punches the air, then pauses. “Dunno how we’d keep track though.”

Chanyeol considers for a few moments, then turns to write something down on the desk. “We can keep track with these,” Chanyeol tosses a piece of paper from the desk at Jongdae’s face, but it falls far short on the foot of the bed and Jongdae has to put down his beer and crawl over to reach it. It’s an old-style tourist postcard, with “Asheville” in bright font arching over the silhouette of a couple watching the mountain sunset. On the back in Chanyeol’s handwriting is the date and “Chanyeol’s awesome fingers.” It’s cheesy as fuck, and Jongdae loves it.

“That’s super gay,” Jongdae says, grinning.

“I try,” Chanyeol bows dramatically and knocks the phone and info folder off the desk in the process. Jongdae nearly rolls off the bed in hysterics.

“Let’s just go get some food, nerd.” Chanyeol puts the phone back, flings his arm around Jongdae’s shoulders and drags him out the door. Jongdae pockets the postcard.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

They leave Asheville the next morning a little later; it’s only five and a half hours to Nashville so they take their time and stop for breakfast at a positively quaint diner.

An hour later, Chanyeol seems to be regretting breakfast entirely. “I feel like shit,” he groans, knocking his head against the window. “Can’t you slow down?”

“I’m going like, fifteen miles per hour already,” Jongdae says, but slows down a little anyway. The highway cuts straight through the middle of the Smokies, winding up and down and around the rolling green peaks in neverending twists and turns that occasionally feel a bit hairy. Normally it would be a gorgeous drive, the eponymous mist from the morning not quite burned off, filling green valleys and the midmorning sunlight dappling through the leaves. But it’s hard to admire the scenery when your friend is one bad turn away from losing his bacon.

Chanyeol groans again and breathes heavily. “I fucking hate mountains,” he whines, and Jongdae hands him his half empty bottle of water but Chanyeol just squishes it against his face, curling himself into as small a ball as he can with his gigantic limbs. He looks sad and increasingly green and they don’t have a bag. Jongdae starts scoping for a place to pull over.

They turn a corner and suddenly there’s a big half-empty parking lot, with some sort of overlook structure and a cabin. Hallelujah.

“Come on man, get out of the car, it’s nice and cool out here.” Jongdae tugs and Chanyeol heaves himself weakly out of the seat, practically flopping on Jongdae. “Carry me,” he whines, and Jongdae laughs. “You’re too big,” he says, but supports Chanyeol’s bulk anyway as they walk to a low wall nearby that marks the edge of the lookout.

“Bet you could,” Chanyeol says as he sits down. “With those guns, bet you could lift me if you wanted.” Jongdae laughs again. “Sure man, we’ll try sometime.” He pats Chanyeol on the head. “I’m gonna get you some water.”

Jongdae comes back from the vending machine and sits down, watching Chanyeol inhale his drink. “You good?” Chanyeol nods sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry.” Jongdae just shrugs it off, and scooches a bit closer, silently offering his shoulder as support. Chanyeol pulls Jongdae in and Jongdae goes, tucking himself against his side. He hasn’t sat like this in a while, not since that one party a month or so ago where Jongdae’s shitty ex unexpectedly showed up for a bit and so he spent most of it huddled next to Chanyeol on the couch, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo squished in on his other side, making distracting conversation, fighting over a bag of Doritos. It was nice, despite the ex. Now, Chanyeol’s warm and blocks the chilly bite of the mountain wind. Jongdae kind of wishes Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were here but this is really nice too, the two of them perched at the top of a cliff.

The view is spectacular.

 

Nashville, if you’re not a country music fan, turns out to be kind of boring as fuck. A nice city, with nice parks, and Chanyeol gets some ridiculous pictures for Instagram with the giant painted guitar statues but otherwise? Meh.

Great barbeque though. Really, really great barbeque. Jongdae delicately tears the last pieces of meat off a rib and closes his eyes, moaning in bliss. This is heaven, he’s sure. Smoky, meaty, spicy heaven.

“Where do you wanna go next?” He asks, carefully sucking the sauce off his fingers. He looks up when Chanyeol doesn’t answer; he’s just staring blankly. “Yeol?”

Chanyeol startles, nearly dropping his own rib. “Oh, uh well I’d like to go see the Parthenon replica before it gets dark I guess.” He takes a bite, talking around the food. “It’s silly and dumb and I want it on my instagram.” A drop of sauce falls onto the side of Chanyeol’s mouth and Jongdae automatically reaches forward to wipe it off. Chanyeol jerks back belatedly and nearly falls off his chair. “Wha—”

“Chill, you just had some sauce on your chin.” Jongdae licks it off his thumb with a salacious grin. “You done?”

Chanyeol pulls a face. “Yeah let’s go before you get us thrown out for public indecency, god.” His ears are bright red and once again Jongdae laughs at how cute he is. He’s always been easily flustered but apparently Jongdae just wasn’t spending enough time one-on-one with him because this is hilariously fun. Jongdae punctuates another bite with a particularly obscene moan and Chanyeol almost throws himself at the register.

At the Parthenon, after they’ve both taken dozens of ridiculous pictures, mostly involving selfies by the creepy statue of Athena, Chanyeol yanks Jongdae behind a pillar in a corner and kisses him firmly. Jongdae’s pressed against the stone and Chanyeol’s hand is burning where it’s on his face, and his legs start to give out. What the hell.

“What the hell,” he says, when Chanyeol pulls away, only a second later.

“You had some sauce on your chin.” Chanyeol adjusts Jongdae’s bangs a little, grins wide, and just...walks away.

“Smooth fucker,” Jongdae mutters. He stumbles a little when he follows Chanyeol.

That night in the motel, after Jongdae sucks Chanyeol off until he’s writhing, moaning loud and Jongdae’s tearing up, and Chanyeol returns the favor with a surprising level of eagerness and his magnificent fingers once again up Jongdae's ass, Jongdae plucks a postcard from his backpack, scrawls on it, and then delicately balances it on Chanyeol's face.

“Jongdae’s pretty mouth,” Chanyeol reads, and Jongdae yelps when Chanyeol rolls over to kiss him into the pillows.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

Memphis was scheduled to be a kind of break day; only three hours of driving and then the rest of the day to chill. Unlike Nashville, Memphis is the home of rock and blues and while Jongdae's excited, Chanyeol can barely contain himself. He drags Jongdae around the city, from museum to hall of fame and Jongdae goes happily. He's of course interested in the stuff too as a theater major but Chanyeol's sheer enthusiasm is catching.

They don't make it to Graceland but by the time dinner rolls around they're wandering the main street of bars and music halls, looking for a good place to eat and see a show. They finally find one with a sort of open mic night, and Chanyeol's eyes practically sparkle. He barely needs to ask; Jongdae's already grabbed his hand and moving towards the stage.

Chanyeol borrows a guitar and plays while Jongdae sings, a song that they normally do with two other voices in the mix, but this time Chanyeol harmonizes instead of Kyungsoo and Jongdae takes Baekhyun's usual parts. Chanyeol and Jongdae actually wrote the song a couple years ago, though really Jongdae didn't do much since it was Chanyeol's final composition project anyway. But he knows the song by heart, they all do.

They get a good round of applause, and the host compliments them both on their harmonies. "Y'all kids in a band?" he asks, and they laugh no. Later at the bar though, Chanyeol brings it up again.

"It'd be nice though, if we were in a band," Chanyeol says around his beer. "Traveling the country, playing festivals, playing music for hundreds or thousands of screaming fans."

"That does sound awesome," Jongdae says. "But I think Kyungsoo would kill us all if we had to live in a bus together for months."

"Haha, yeah," Chanyeol says, and Jongdae expects him to keep talking but he's gone silent, nursing his beer. Probably just tired.

"Wanna go back to the room?" Jongdae asks, leering with his patented eyebrow waggle.

Chanyeol seems to perk up. "Yeah, we got another city to mark off."

 

"Hey, I wanna do something different tonight," Jongdae murmurs against Chanyeol's lips. "I want you to fuck me."

Chanyeol shudders hard where Jongdae has him pinned to the wall inside the room. "I thought," he manages between kisses to his lips and jaw. "I thought I have been, though."

"Yeah but I want your dick," Jongdae says, palming the front of Chanyeol's pants, which are already fairly tight. He certainly doesn't expect Chanyeol to laugh.

"You want my dick? That's the best you've got?"

"It's a perfectly good line," Jongdae pouts, but Chanyeol just snorts.

"Yeah, poetry." Jongdae pouts harder.

"Okay," Jongdae says, bending close to Chanyeol's ear. "How about you can bend me in half and see how much I want your dick."

The next thing he knows Chanyeol's mouth is back on his and Jongdae's being walked backwards and down onto the bed, Chanyeol's hands already halfway up his shirt. "Yeah that sounds good," Chanyeol says, then pulls the shirt up over Jongdae's head. Jongdae scrambles to do the same to Chanyeol's, and in record time they're both naked and panting.

Chanyeol works two, then three of his fingers into Jongdae like a pro, and it's only a few minutes before Jongdae can't take it anymore and shoves at Chanyeol's arm.

"Get, get inside me already, come on," he whines and Chanyeol scrambles for the condom. He pushes in slowly but steadily, bigger than most Jongdae's had and it feels as if it's pushing a moan all the way up his body and out his throat. He releases the moan when Chanyeol finally bottoms out, loud and long and obscene; he's so full and it's been far too fucking long. Chanyeol is panting a little above him, biceps trembling under where Jongdae's gripping them.

"You good?"

"Yeah, I, one sec," Jongdae says, takes a breath and wriggles a little around Chanyeol's cock, adjusting to the size and taking him in that much farther. He feels _spectacular_. Chanyeol chokes out a moan and Jongdae smiles.

"Come on, big boy, show me what you got." He doesn't quite expect Chanyeol to _actually_ bend him in half but that's what he does, hiking Jongdae's knees up and over his shoulders and thrusting in and out in one smooth motion that forces the air out of Jongdae's lungs.

"You're just full of surprises today," Jongdae says after catching his breath, and Chanyeol shrugs like he isn't buried to the hilt in his best bro's ass.

"I'm a talented guy," he says and cuts off Jongdae's retort with another deep thrust. They both moan loudly that time and Chanyeol begins to fuck into Jongdae in earnest, hands already slippery with sweat on the backs of Jongdae's thighs. Jongdae's breath comes short, neck bent and chest curled in, and so the noises each thrust punches out of him are choked and wobbly. It’s rough for a few minutes, arousal building slowly but then Jongdae adjusts at the same time as Chanyeol does and the thrusts start hitting right where he needs it. His nerves feel a little like fire and Jongdae grips at the sheets, trying to hold on.

Chanyeol slaps his ass and Jongdae's moan turns high pitched. He can barely think, barely breathe with how Chanyeol towers over him, knees pushed up by his ears and cock bobbing over his stomach, ass stinging a little.

Chanyeol leans down and captures Jongdae's mouth in a sloppy kiss, swallowing another moan when he slaps Jongdae's ass again. His thrusts get deeper but more erratic and Jongdae wants to come so badly.

"I'm gonna, Jongdae, please," Chanyeol says, hips stuttering, face red and sweaty. He should be gross but Jongdae’s too turned on to care.

“Yeah, come on, Chanyeol,” Jongdae kisses him, and Chanyeol bites down _hard_ on Jongdae’s lip when he comes. There’s a small tang of blood but Jongdae barely notices, hand wrapped around his own dick chasing his own climax. He follows not long after, loud and gasping.

This postcard says “tiny ass”. Jongdae puts it in his bag with the rest. This time, they stay in one bed and Jongdae falls asleep curled around Chanyeol.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

The next day is another long day of driving. They break it up with two stops in Arkansas: Chanyeol gives Jongdae a blowjob in the back of the car at a rest stop outside of Little Rock, and Jongdae returns the favor in the bathroom of the restaurant where the stop for lunch, in a small city in the bend of the Arkansas river. Both times they nearly get caught, and both times earn them a postcard.

It’s exhilarating, and the most fun Jongdae’s had on a road trip, ever. Not just the sex, but in between he and Chanyeol fill the time with loud open-window singalongs to the radio, the occasional podcast, and mostly just chatting. They’ve been friends for three years, best friends even, and yet Jongdae’s not used to having such a monopoly on Chanyeol’s attention, usually split between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. It’s...nice. Chanyeol’s always been fun to talk to, especially with things like musical composition. Jongdae plans to have Chanyeol help him with his lyrics for the musical piece he has to write as a senior thesis. 

But now they also get to talk about dumb shit, and send annoying snapchats to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, stuck in their respective internships. They receive very few responses, mostly pouty selfies from Baekhyun and black screens with a middle finger emoji from Kyungsoo. One time after a particularly screechy snapchat he sends them a picture of his actual middle finger. Chanyeol saves that one.

About when they hit the Oklahoma border, things get suddenly very flat, and stay that way. The horizon stretches far, but the landscape of intermittent farmland and forest gets real old, real fast. Google Maps shows almost nothing on either side of the highway, not for miles.

“God, I miss the mountains.” Chanyeol slouches in his seat, legs scrunched up against the dash.

“I thought you hated mountains.”

“I changed my mind.”

Oklahoma City is worse than Nashville, and they grab drive through dinner and barely leave the motel room, despite being horrifically decorated in western kitsch, cowboys lassoing horses across the wallpaper. Eventually, Jongdae ends up riding Chanyeol into the mattress while he watches, rapt.

The problem, Jongdae soon discovers, with riding Chanyeol is that he’s not doing as much work and so has time to think and say dumb shit.

Chanyeol looks around at the decor, then somehow manages a shit-eating grin despite Jongdae bouncing on his dick like he’s going for gold. “Hey, Jongdae.”

“If you say anything about horses or cowboys, I will leave you here and jerk off in the bathroom.”

Chanyeol shuts up.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

The drive from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque is their longest one yet and somehow _more_ boring than the previous day, until they finally they approach New Mexico and the farmland gives way to desert. This desert has colors, though, reds and greens and yellows and somehow the sky seems to get bigger and bluer. It’s kind of spectacular and Jongdae spends a long time just staring out the window, watching the scenery whip by, long flat mountains in the distance.

They arrive in the city late at night, too tired to do anything but collapse into bed at a small hotel. There are two beds but they end up in one, Chanyeol wrapped around Jongdae like a large barnacle. 

The next day they plan to spend in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe before heading up the following day to camp in the southern Utah mountains. After a lazy round of morning sex where Chanyeol fucks them both awake using Jongdae’s thighs, Albuquerque turns out to be a ton of fun, a cute town with tons of cool shops and restaurants. It’s a Saturday, and so there’s a market going on downtown selling local jewellry and art, mostly Southwestern in style. 

“We should get Baekhyun and Kyungsoo something,” Jongdae says, and Chanyeol agrees. They split up to search; since Baekhyun is Jongdae’s roommate, he gets responsibility over choosing his gift, and Chanyeol gets Kyungsoo. Jongdae quickly finds a really stupid looking dog magnet in bright colors that he decides looks just like Baekhyun’s dog. He’s got a bunch of time to kill before he’s supposed to meet Chanyeol for lunch, so he wanders a little longer.

Eventually he comes across a table selling leather bracelets. They’re simple, with basic patterns beaded into the dark leather in bright colors. They’re also on sale, two for one. Impulsively, Jongdae picks a red one that would look really nice on Chanyeol’s wrist and a yellow one for himself. The lady selling them winks at Jongdae but he just laughs and goes to find the restaurant.

At lunch he gives Chanyeol his bracelet, tying it around his wrist for him. “I figured we needed our own souvenirs from this trip,” Jongdae says.

“What about the postcards?” Chanyeol asks, staring at his wrist. Jongdae scoffs. “Those aren’t real souvenirs. We need something more substantial.” He fumbles with his own bracelet before Chanyeol reaches over to help. His fingers are big and yet they tie the knot swiftly and perfectly; Jongdae’s reminded of what else those fingers can do and he shivers a bit.

The rest of the day Chanyeol can’t seem to stop looking at his wrist, admiring the way the light catches the beads. Jongdae smiles smugly to himself, glad that Chanyeol liked his gift. He himself likes the way the yellow bracelet looks on his own wrist, matching his other ones perfectly.

Santa Fe has lovely art throughout the city, and some really amazing old churches. Most importantly, it has magnificent food, and they both have to roll themselves out of the Mexican restaurant they chose for dinner. On the way back to the AirBnB they’ve rented the sun begins to set, and they pull over to the side of the road to watch. It lights up the desert, turning the colors brighter and darker at the same time, and the clouds the same color as the ground, before disappearing behind the mountains.

“Now that’s a sunset,” Chanyeol says, snapping several photos, and Jongdae just leans into his shoulder in agreement. 

Later that night Chanyeol fucks Jongdae on all fours, sucking and biting hickeys across his shoulders and down his back. “Sunset,” Chanyeol says above him, but Jongdae barely catches it, too distracted by the delicious burn in his thighs and shoulders. Jongdae comes first, strung out from all the hickeys and a ridiculously long time spent being fingered open. When Chanyeol comes, he comes biting down on Jongdae’s shoulder and a hand wrapped around his wrist.

Two more postcards go into Jongdae’s bag.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

Before leaving Santa Fe they stock up on food for dinner and breakfast, since they’ll be camping. Nothing special; they’ll be car camping and they have a small tent already, with a couple old sleeping bags. Jongdae’s a little skeptical but Chanyeol insists that it’ll be fun, and a chance to save some money.

“But my parents are helping bankroll this trip,” Jongdae says.

“Yeah yeah, Mr. Moneybags, doesn’t mean we can’t save a little.” 

They set up camp that evening in the tent area of an RV park off the highway, just inside one of the many national parks littering the region. The hills and cliffs tower overhead and their corner of the park is relatively empty, so it’s quiet. 

They start off in separate bags, staring through the top of the tent at the stars—more than Jongdae’s ever seen in his life. He can see the Milky Way for the first time that he can remember, a purplish streak across the sky and for once, neither of them have anything to say. It’s humbling, and Jongdae can’t think of much else except that he’s really glad to be here, right now, in this tent, with one of his best friends in the world.

After about thirty minutes of staring in awe, Jongdae begins to shiver in his bag. They are pretty old, and despite it being the height of summer the desert gets uncomfortably cold at night. He tries to quietly scooch closer to Chanyeol in an attempt to mooch off his body heat. Chanyeol notices, and starts to unzip his bag. 

“What are you doing?” Jongdae says when Chanyeol starts unzipping his as well. “We can’t both fit in there.”

“Yeah we will, you’re teeny, come on.” Convinced by the cold air now invading his bag, Jongdae scrambles over into Chanyeol’s bag. It takes some maneuvering of limbs and several elbows to ribs, but eventually they get it right, lying side by side in the bag, arms curled around each other for lack of space. It’s _much_ warmer than before and Jongdae definitely could fall asleep like this. But instead he’s acutely aware of the long planes of Chanyeol’s body pressed against his, how good it feels to cling to Chanyeol’s tshirt, how long Chanyeol’s eyelashes are against his flushed cheeks.

“This isn’t a city,” Chanyeol says, face too close in the sleeping bag. The air is chilled outside but too warm between them, damp from their breath.

“No,” Jongdae agrees, and kisses him. 

Unlike the other times they’ve kissed, it’s soft and almost intimate, both of them wrapped up tight and warm in the bag, legs tangled together. Jongdae savors it, lets himself sink into the kiss slowly and luxuriate in it, like a warm bath after a long day. 

They kiss for what feels like hours, low and slow, arousal simmering under Jongdae’s skin. Then Jongdae shifts and his thigh presses tight against Chanyeol’s crotch and the kiss turns heavier, more desperate. Hands cling tighter and Chanyeol begins to pant against Jongdae’s mouth, small needy whines escaping between kisses.

Jongdae pulls back just a hair. “I want to fuck you,” he says, and Chanyeol nearly hits him in the face with how quickly he nods.

It’s not easy, sliding Chanyeol’s sweatpants down and off and maneuvering his legs around Jongdae while not unzipping the bag, but they manage. Thankfully Chanyeol brought his bag into the tent, so he carefully extracts his arm to grope through it for the lube and a condom. By the time they get everything situated, Chanyeol’s almost gone soft but Jongdae wraps a lube slick hand around his cock and jerks him back to full hardness. 

He hitches Chanyeol’s leg up as far as he can and reaches back to his entrance. One finger, then two, and by the time he gets to three Chanyeol is shivering, moaning, and trying his best in the cramped space to fuck himself down on Jongdae’s fingers. Jongdae strokes along his thigh soothingly with each thrust, murmuring softly into Chanyeol’s skin, damp with sweat. “You’re doing so good, so good Yeol.”

“Jongdae,” Chanyeol whines, fingers clutching at his shoulders, nails scratching a little. “Come on, please, I need—”

“Ssh babe, I know, I got you,” Jongdae says, and Chanyeol clings a little harder. Jongdae’s scooched down level with his chest now, but Chanyeol’s face is buried in his hair and so Jongdae doesn’t miss the beautiful noise Chanyeol makes when he finally sinks in.

It’s a little awkward and slippery and Jongdae desperately wishes he could see Chanyeol’s face but it’s hot, so hot, so warm inside the bag and inside Chanyeol and Jongdae feels like he might spontaneously combust right here. He’d laugh, if he wasn’t already dangerously close to coming.

Unexpectedly Chanyeol comes untouched before he does with a high, breathy moan, curling around Jongdae’s head and shoulders even tighter, nails definitely leaving marks. Jongdae follows quickly after a few desperate thrusts, Chanyeol hiccuping a little with each one. He presses his groan into Chanyeol’s chest, mouthing absently at the skin, salty and somehow a little flowery. They’re pressed so close he forgets for a moment where he ends and Chanyeol begins. It’s a dizzying feeling.

“That was,” Chanyeol says after several moments catching their breath.

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“ _Yeah._ ”

They do eventually unzip the bag to clean off and air out a little, but quickly go back to being curled up close when the air gets too cold on their damp skin. They fall asleep like that, Jongdae tucked under Chanyeol’s chin and limbs wrapped around Chanyeol’s waist. It’s cramped, they’re in a tent, and on a flimsy camping pad, but it’s maybe the most comfortable Jongdae’s ever been.

He falls asleep hoping he can do this again.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

Their last stop on the trip is also supposed to be the most fun: Las Vegas. Despite Jongdae’s parents funding most of the trip, neither of them have the means or desire to gamble, so they just wander the strip for a while admiring the glittering hotels, and watch the Bellagio fountain show with the other tourists.

They go back to the small apartment they’ve booked and Jongdae takes his time opening Chanyeol up, long skinny legs wrapped around his head and three fingers deep. This time Jongdae gets to see Chanyeol’s face when he comes, kiss him sloppy and swallow down his moans as he buries himself in Chanyeol’s ass. He spends a bit more time kissing Chanyeol after they come down this time, worried that he’d been too rough but also basking in the glow and the feeling of Chanyeol’s mile-long legs wrapped around his hips. He whispers compliments along Chanyeol’s jawline, “you’re so good babe”s and “amazing”s. He means it, Chanyeol’s the best he’s had in a long time and Jongdae is delirious with it.

Chanyeol’s unusually quiet after they clean up, getting ready for sleep almost immediately instead of chatting and tapping at his phone for another hour, but Jongdae figures he’s just tired. It’s been a long day. 

 

The next day they go out and explore the strip in the daytime, looking for museums and attractions with the more family-friendly crowd of tourists. The whole time Chanyeol is strangely reticent, not as proactive about selfies or instagram pics, having to be prompted more than once to take a picture. Jongdae is a little concerned, but tries not to let it bother him. He hopes Chanyeol isn’t getting sick.

 

They get back to the hotel and Jongdae announces that he’s going to get food from the small store down the street and a postcard. Chanyeol doesn’t make any move to come with, just waves him off from the couch. Jongdae frowns, but shrugs it off and goes anyway.

The store down the street doesn’t have postcards _or_ real food, so Jongdae heads back up to the apartment after just buying a couple sodas. He finds Chanyeol not on the sofa where he left him but curled up in the bedroom facing away from the door, on the phone.

“I slept with him, Kyungsoo.” Jongdae stops, surprised. Jongdae hadn’t told anyone they were fucking. Not for any particular reason, he just...didn’t want to, yet. He’s a little miffed that Chanyeol decided to tell Kyungsoo alone but, whatever. He starts to knock on the frame and make his presence known but Chanyeol’s next words make him pause.

“Uh...more than once. A lot. Yeah I fucked up, Soo, I—I...I don’t know, I’m not sure what to do.” Chanyeol seems to curl into himself even more. His voice sounds sad, in a way Jongdae hasn’t heard him be since his first boyfriend dumped him, years ago. “I can’t talk to him, I— yeah, okay, I’ll try. I’m sorry.” He hangs up and Jongdae freezes, panicked, but Chanyeol doesn’t move. Jongdae flees, and pretends to come into the apartment, loudly.

_What the fuck._

Chanyeol comes out, bleary eyed. _Has he been crying? What the fuck._ “Hey, they didn’t have anything so I just got you a diet coke.” He puts the sodas down on the counter a little too hard.

“Oh, thanks.” Chanyeol smiles, and Jongdae tries to smile back but it’s definitely forced.

He feels like shit. You know what helps with feeling like shit? Alcohol. And wow, they’re even in Las Vegas, how convenient. 

“Let’s go get fucked up,” Jongdae says, trying to grin wider. “We’re in Vegas and we haven’t even been to a single club.” Chanyeol seems confused, but agrees, and they head out after grabbing a cheap dinner.

Jongdae’s definitely getting too drunk too fast but he really couldn’t care less, since one of his best friends in the world has been _lying_ to him for _days_. He abandons Chanyeol at the bar and heads for the dance floor, almost immediately finding a pretty girl to be his dance partner.

The girl winds her arms around Jongdae’s neck and he dances closer. She smells like vanilla. It’s too sweet and it makes the alcohol in his head spin. If Chanyeol didn’t want to fuck him so badly, why did they even start? The girl is shorter than him and curvy, definitely his type; Jongdae has a weird moment of confusion when he has to lean down into her instead of up.

She kisses him and Jongdae follows willingly, the familiar taste of lipstick and mint in his mouth. Her lips are pink and soft too, but so different from Chanyeol’s, bubblegum pink instead of rose and perfectly moisturized. Any other time Jongdae would be into it, looking to see if he could take her home. But then he looks up and sees Chanyeol at the bar, staring. The expression on his face is devastating, and Jongdae feels something in his gut plummet. The worst part is Chanyeol doesn’t even look surprised, just crushed. They make eye contact and Chanyeol looks a little panicked, then disappears. The girl pulls at him a little, trying to get him back to kissing, but Jongdae doesn’t respond, brain whirring past the alcohol. 

If it was just a game, and Chanyeol didn’t even really want to play anyway, why does Jongdae suddenly feel like he’s fucked up? He leaves the girl on the dancefloor and orders a beer, but it’s gone sour in his mouth. There’s a text on his phone from Chanyeol:

_went back. need to sleep b4 driving tomorrow_

When he gets back, the lights are off and Chanyeol’s asleep in the other bed. He thinks about the look on Chanyeol’s face, feels like he’s missing something, and lies on the bed until alcohol and sleep claim him.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

The drive back to LA is painful. The final stretch of road trips is always strange, a too-long denouement from an extended climax, where you finally feel the destination more than the journey. But this particular stretch is especially bad, the silence between them hanging heavy, the radio too-loud in the car.

The worst part is they didn’t even fight; there was no moment of conflict or explosion of feelings, just going to bed quietly in separate beds. They hadn't slept in separate beds since Tennessee, and Jongdae decided that it kind of sucked. 

The silence stretches thin after a couple hours, like it’s going to break. Jongdae feels itchy and restless, hangover lingering. And when Jongdae gets itchy, he makes reckless decisions.

“Alright what’s your deal?” Jongdae snaps. “You’ve been weird since yesterday and I'm pretty sick of it." 

"Nothing," Chanyeol says dully and Jongdae snorts.

"The fuck it is. Why'd you call Kyungsoo, then huh?" Chanyeol winces and Jongdae laughs bitterly. "If you hated this that much why'd you even—"

"I didn't—"

"Why'd you _lie_ to me, Chanyeol—"

“Because I’m in love with you,” Chanyeol says, voice suddenly getting very small at the end. There’s a very long pause where the words hang in the air, suddenly heavier than the previous silence.

“Oh,” says Jongdae finally, dumbstruck. “Well that’s...stupid.”

“ _Stupid_?!”

“ _No,_ sorry, that’s not what I—” Jongdae tries but Chanyeol’s not listening, glaring at Jongdae while he yells.

“You think that’s stupid? You think my feelings are _stupid_?”

“Jesus christ Chanyeol, watch the road!” Jongdae notices a sign for an upcoming rest stop. “There! Pull over, you can yell at me there!”

Chanyeol swerves onto the ramp for the rest stop so fast Jongdae nearly gets whiplash. When they park, Chanyeol bursts out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Jongdae leaps out to follow him, running to catch up to his giraffe legs.

“Chanyeol, wait!” he yells, making a grab for Chanyeol’s arm but he whirls around first.

“Here’s the thing, Jongdae,” he says, and Jongdae can see the beginnings of tears tracking down his face. “I _knew_ you were emotionally unavailable to me, I _knew_ I was setting myself up for failure,”

“ _Emotionally unavailable?_ ” Jongdae interrupts but Chanyeol plows on.

“...and yet somehow I _still_ never thought that my _best friend_ would be so cruel as to call me _stupid_ for having _feelings_.” He sniffles, and rubs at his eyes a bit. 

“You’re really in love with me?”

Chanyeol laughs bitterly. “I’ve literally said that twice now, asshole.” He turns to walk away again and Jongdae manages to stop him this time.

“Wait, I just…” Jongdae feels like he’s been hit with a hammer and is trying to shake off the concussion. “I didn’t mean you were stupid—well, I did, but not your feelings—” he cuts himself off. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Chanyeol makes an incredulous noise and gestures around and between them. “I was afraid of rejection, like this!” he says and Jongdae thinks Chanyeol’s going to actually start crying. 

“I’m not rejecting you!” Jongdae says, desperate to make Chanyeol understand and stop crying. Crying Chanyeol is the worst, it’s like watching a puppy cry, and Jongdae feels terrible for causing it. “I just mean, if you’d told me, we could have been dating this whole time.” He smiles, and tries to wipe some of the tears off Chanyeol’s face with his thumb. “That’s what’s stupid; you not telling me and me being too dumb to realize it on my own.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol says, quiet. He looks like he can’t quite process what’s happening.

“I don’t know if my feelings are _love_ yet,” Jongdae continues, curling his fingers tighter into the sleeve of Chanyeol’s hoodie. It’s too hot to be wearing one but he is, and it’s adorable. “But I’m pretty sure I’m a lot more than halfway there already.” 

Chanyeol sniffs. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae says, and the grin that lights up Chanyeol’s face is one of the brightest Jongdae’s ever seen. He decides to make sure he sees it again.

“So we’re boyfriends now?” Chanyeol says and Jongdae laughs at the complete one-eighty in mood.

“Yep!” He waggles his eyebrows. “Think you can handle me?”

The next thing he knows Chanyeol has him flung over his shoulder and headed back to the car. Jongdae shrieks for him to let him down but Chanyeol merely pats his butt a few times. Jongdae shuts up.

“Yeah, I think so,” Chanyeol says, and when they get back to the car, Jongdae kisses him first.

⇠ ⇠ ⇠ 

Jongdae calls Baekhyun a couple days later, after they’ve arrived in LA, unpacked and napped for several hours, flopped on top of each other on the couch in Jongdae and Baekhyun’s apartment. Jongdae wakes up with a kink in his spine but it’s worth it when he gets to wake up to sleepy kisses along his neck.

Jongdae’s already talked to Kyungsoo, who expressed no remorse for not telling Jongdae as it was “not his business to tell” and merely congratulated them both for “growing a pair and overcoming idiocy.” He also banned them from having sex in his and Chanyeol’s apartment since he actually needs sleep, and so they end up spending most of their time at the other apartment.

Baekhyun is also less remorseful than Jongdae hoped. 

“I _told_ you he was delicate, dammit!” Baekhyun says. “I warned you to be good to him, and you immediately go off and start fucking with him. Literally!”

“I didn’t know,” Jongdae whines. “But we’re together now so it’s okay!”

Baekhyun makes an unconvinced noise. “I guess this means my fabulous ass is off the market for you,” he sighs wistfully.

“You’ve literally had a boyfriend for almost two years,” Jongdae says. “It’s been off the market.”

“Whatever,” Baekhyun says. “Go enjoy your flat-assed boyfriend.”

“I love my boyfriend’s flat ass, thank you!” Jongdae retorts, but Baekhyun’s already hung up. He fumes, but then arms wind around him from behind.

“So you love my flat ass, huh?” Chanyeol says, crouched over and chin tucked into Jongdae’s shoulder. 

“Sure do,” Jongdae says, and turns around to plant a kiss on Chanyeol’s lips. “Love how concave it is.” He starts to walk away and Chanyeol smacks his ass in retaliation. Jongdae turns, hand rubbing at the sting and raises an eyebrow. “Oh, so that’s how we’re gonna play, huh?” Chanyeol laughs and tries to escape when Jongdae leaps on him, but to no avail.

Jongdae discovers that he can, indeed, deadlift Chanyeol and Chanyeol discovers a new kink. 

The postcards stay taped to the wall of Jongdae’s room.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you enjoyed~
> 
> I apologize to any residents of Nashville or OK City, but also...not really
> 
> title from the 1D song of the same name :)


End file.
